Multiple Maker Spaces

It seems maker spaces are springing up everywhere. And that's really, really exciting. We're a part of a movement, a gathering force of change and hope. We gather at Faires, at Cons, at challenges. We make friends and learn from each other. We feel epic, because we do epic things.

It feels amazing… until a space opens in the same city, down the way. Then we feel threatened, because we're socialized to see participants as a zero-sum game. We think someone going to NotYourSpace is, well, not going to your space.

But isn't that the same idea we're trying to smash through Making? Reappropriation, misappropriation, hacking, finding new ways to use old things. It's about reverse engineering, going to the junk yard to find some random part which will Make It Work. It's about not being boxed into one style of interaction, it's not a consumer model, it's not about false scarcity.

Let me propose a new worldview to you: these spaces, through collaboration, will not only better themselves, but will also connect with more people than they would working separately. Because each space has its own vibe, its own purpose, its own set of tools, we can build greater things and have a great of a time doing it.

We've moved beyond Do-It-Yourself. We're now in a phase of Doing-It-Together.

I'm a part of a group which is forming a Federation/Foundation for these spaces. But we're just starting, and we won't ever do everything for everyone, because that's not what it's about, and it's not what we want to do. So reach out to those other spaces. See what they're about. Go to their pot lucks, and invite them to yours. The only divides which will exist are the ones we create for ourselves. Let's abandon the Us/Them mentality which has been foisted upon us, and sit down to build things together instead.